Instructions: Read each of the following steps carefully. Follow the instructions for each step.
Purpose: This assignment examines a company that is very economically efficient, and yet public opinion is mixed on whether they are an ethical member of the business community.
This assignment helps to achieve course learning outcomes 1, 2 and 3 and module learning outcome 1.4.
1) Go to the Phillip Morris site, and look at the information they have. Do they sound like a morally responsible company? What moral standards seem to be driving them?
http://www.altria.com/our-companies/philipmorrisusa/Pages/default.aspx
2) Read the articles at the links below. Did they change your view any?
http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/16/6/1070.long
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/04/AR2006090400947.html
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/27/health/tobacco-court-order
3) Do a web search for more recent articles relating to the tobacco industry and Philip Morris specifically. Do they appear to have genuinely changed? Include the URL for all sources used for this question.
4) Is Phillip Morris doing a good job as an ethical member of our business community? Why or why not??
5) In 2011, the Federal government passed a law changing the warning labels they require on cigarettes. Read the following then answer these questions: Are these labels reasonable? Has the government overstepped?
https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/labeling-and-warning-statements-tobacco-products/cigarette-health-warnings (make sure to view the new labels)
6) Read the following article. Does this change your mind?
7) Based on what you have read above, do you agree with the following decision:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/24/justice/tobacco-warning-label-law/index.html
8) Look at the following link. What do you think of this, in light of the above articles?
http://farm.ewg.org/progdetail.php?fips=00000&progcode=tobacco
The website below is not required for the assignment. However, you may find it useful as an outside reference, or to see what is currently going on about this issue: